Named Adventuring Groups / Bands

[That DM Guy]

My group adores DCC RPG so far, but one of the things they often lament is that they wish they could play something akin to DCC RPG with all the cool stuff classes could do (Mighty Deeds, Halfling luck, etc.), but also keep with the grandiose storytelling that they got with Pathfinder and 4e. We jumped in DCC RPG after two of a 7 player game who had been playing the same campaign off and on since 2003 became demi-gods. An attempt was made to use the divine rank rules for giggles, it was a bit too much. Long story short, they adore DCC RPG and feel it is a hard return to roots.

I had a talk with my brother and after reading a lot of forums and listening to Spellburn (which is where I think I picked up this nugget), I feel that DCC RPG really focuses more on the party than one single character. It's not a characters arc, but a party's history.

Meanwhile, unrelated at the time, I was building a setting to contain my DCC RPG game. The games had all been very vague, but I wanted to at least build a pantheon of my own and use a few connecting themes to unite my games so that they might all take place in the same world. I always appreciated Greyhawk's feel since a lot of its most famous dungeons and adventures felt like we were the -second group- to arrive. Gygax's original squad of PCs becoming legend not only in their game, but to D&D in general. I'd like to give my players' just as much chance to create their own Citadel of Eight. I also need a world where I can copy paste ANY adventure I want in the world without fear of losing the setting's "spirit" (Letting the players do a level or two of Dwimmermount or Barrowmaze before they head up to Barrier peaks or Shudder Mountains).

This line of thinking really got me going: a setting based on adventuring parties. I've always liked the idea. I can let the players go nuts with building a "coat of arms" or symbol. If one group TPKs, I can let them start another or let them try and rebuild their previous group, keeping a real lineage feel to it. The names of the PCs would mean more for their heroics as they're tied not to just the whole setting, but to a famous group. I've got plenty of ways to kind of build this up and, fortunately, kept two or three issues of Dungeon magazine with Challenge of the Champions adventures. I want to get as many names and ideas for these types of parties as I can, as to show the PCs are not alone. I'd also like to impose some strange and exotic membership frills and the like. So, if you guys have any ideas for mercenary groups to NPC adventuring parties, I'd love to hear them. Throwing out a line for any inspiration and figured this would be the best place to start!

[GnomeBoy]

You've seen pages 40-41 and 45-46, right?

There's also the Purple Sorcerer Party Generator, if you want to whip up a rival party... the results could inspire a larger group, perhaps.

http://purplesorcerer.com/tools.php

[Blutimate]

This post reminded me of the Taenarum game from Dreams in the Lich House:
(http://dreamsinthelichhouse.blogspot.co ... f-cry.html)

Gaming resumed with the party at the Adventurers Guild Hall, meeting the new recruits and confirming their membership in The Outlanders. The players learned this week what can happen if you don't finish a quest. While they were discussing what delve to explore this week, there was a heartfelt reunion on the other side of the tavern; the Big Gold Hunters (BGH), one of the haughty rival adventuring parties on the Scoreboard, had rescued a Spartan soldier who was imprisoned by a cave dryad (and reunited him with a grateful wife, earning a fair reward). This was a dungeon area the players started last week, clearing most of it but not finishing it. The players could overhear BGH, "Yeah, it's like someone cleared out half the area, there were dead snakes everywhere - it was easy for us to "convince" the dryad to let Barasidas go."

Now, I get there could be differences of opinion on how I'm such a mean ref - the players clear half a lair, then some other group of knuckleheads comes along, finishes the job, and gets the treasure. Let's be clear - the players are not precious snow flakes, they're part of the same compost heap as all the other adventuring groups trying to get ahead by looting Taenarum. Or at least, that's how I want them to feel! If they don't like the Big Gold Hunters jumping their claim, they can arrange an 'accident' to happen to the Big Gold Hunters. You can be sure the NPC groups are going to be looking for chances to knock The Outlanders off the Scoreboard - permanently. This also demonstrates the world isn't static, and things are going to continue happening while the players are out of the dungeon resting. The ulterior motive is to make sure the players explore with a sense of purpose, avoid wandering monsters, and work hard at finishing the whole lair (or at least getting away with the treasure before they quit for the night). If they leave a lair weakened and half explored, someone else may come along and finish the job.

There has to be a purpose for lots of different adventurers and adventuring parties. Megadungeons or large-scale wars (the source of ancient and modern-day mercenaries) provide the avenue for such things.

David

[DCCfan]

I did this with CWR. It is such a big dungeon that parts were skipped by the group. If that happened and something important to the story needed to be found then another party would find it. This helped me out as DM and caused some interesting RP moments. Negotiating with another gold Hungary group of adventurers for something you need is always fun.

[Fenris Ulfhamr]

Back when we played 4e at our LGS, we'd sign up online for a table, discuss party composition, tactics, etc. before and between sessions. We had 5 regulars with a revolving (sometimes empty) 6th. We had two sorcerers, a necromancer, a slayer, and a vampire (yes, the slayer was Buffy ). There was a part of the story where we needed to be somewhere we shouldn't be, and the party face (the vampire) announced that we were the "Serathel Arcane Research Society" on official inquiry into the matter" and rolled a hell of a Bluff check. Later, we killed the Big Bad and set up shop in his alchemical laboratory, we just changed sign out front to "S.A.R.S." and it was official, haha. We then started posting "ads" on the LGS site for our 6th member to "employ".